We’re in the first video game console generation where prices are going up instead of coming down. It’s rough out there, especially if you were someone who was waiting on the sidelines for the right deal before finally buying a Nintendo Switch or upgrading to a PS5. But the good news is that even if new consoles keep getting more expensive, used versions have never been more affordable.
If you asked me for the best deal in gaming right now, I’d probably say the Switch Lite. It arrived back in 2019 and as low-end dedicated gaming handhelds go, it performs decently well. Best of all, it has access to one of the best gaming libraries ever assembled. If you’ve never owned a Switch before, you can instantly start playing anything from The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Animal Crossing: New Horizons to Hades and Stardew Valley on one of the most convenient form factors around. The only downside is that despite coming out six years ago, it’s never received a price cut. In fact, following Nintendo’s latest price hikes in response to tariffs, it’s now $230 to buy new.
Used, however, you can get one in decent shape for just $100. According to reseller pricing data logged on Price Charts, that’s around the lowest it’s ever been, and prices don’t seem likely to spike again in the near future. It’s a similar story for the base model Switch with the blue and red Joy-Con. Recently raised to $340 new, you can get one for less than half that used. Prices for other older used consoles are also at all-time lows. A 1TB PS4 Slim hovers just above $100 right now. The cheapest Xbox One right now is just $98. Some of the newer consoles have decent used discounts as well.
Lets start with the Xbox Series S. It launched at $300, was frequently on sale for $250, and is now going for $380 new at GameStop. That’s nuts! The whole point of the Series S is that it can’t play discs or run games at 4K but it can give you convenient access to all of the great stuff that rotates through Game Pass. Used, however, the Series S remains a great bargain. While it once dipped down to as low as $160 in 2023, it’s still easy to find second-hand for around $200. That makes it the cheapest way to play Helldivers 2 when it comes to Xbox this month. At around $375, a used Xbox Series X is nearly double the price, but still way less than its current $600 MSRP.
The PS5 is, surprisingly, an even better used deal than the Series X, probably in part because there’s way more of them floating around in the first place. Sony hasn’t raised the prices on its hardware in the U.S. yet and you can still grab one of the new Astro Bot PS5 slim bundles for just $450. Used, the slim with a disc drive runs about $330, while the all-digital base PS5 can be found for $300 or lower. That’s only a third off the sticker price, but still not bad. At $70 each, that’s the same as buying both Borderlands 4 and Ghost of Yotei new this fall.
There’s sometimes been a stigma around buying used consoles. GameStop refusing to price them competitively is part of that. You also don’t always know how well looked-after a system was. Has it been overheating from dust-clogged fans? Is it infested with bugs? My personal experience with used consoles in the modern era has been quite positive, though. A used Xbox One I purchased in the mid aughts lasted me until I traded it in toward my Series S. A Switch I bought on Facebook last Christmas for just $200 (it also included Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Switch Sports) still feels practically brand new.
The only used console you can’t get a deal on right now is the Switch 2. Even pre-owned versions are going for over the current $450 MSRP. It’ll probably only get worse if and when Nintendo eventually raises that price as well. Fortunately, at least for now, most of the games worth playing on Switch 2 are still available on Switch 1.
